Hello,
I am in the final stages of drafting a wood burning appliance by law for a small interior community and am experimenting with some new requirements that are not included in the model bylaw supplied by Environment Canada or other bylaws in British Columbia. One of the requirements involves the idea of buffer zones around areas known to shelter smoke-sensitive populations (hospitals, schools, parks, etc.). The bylaw has components in it that focus on these areas first so that sensitive populations can be relieved of some wood smoke impacts. My question relates to the radius of these areas from property lines eg.should they extend 100m around a hospital, 150m, 250m, etc.. I understand that a buffer zone of 150m is suggested for major transportation corridors but dont know of an equivalent standard for wood burning appliances, if one even exists. If any of you in your experiences have come across this before or know where to find credible data regarding this subject, I would appreciate hearing about it.
Thank you.
Laurie Gallant
www.footprintbc.com
Seeking Info on Air Quality Buffer Zones for Hospitals
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Hello Laurie,
I am an Environmental Building Consultant and one of the current jobs I have is working with a doctor's clinic in their new construction. I am referencing the document Green Guide For Health Care. http://www.gghc.org/ It is sort of a LEED based but 100 times better as it is also a performance based operations side of things after the build. Anyway it won't directly answer your question of smoke travelling which is arguable a challenging one to impose upon neighbours. Especially considering upwind and downwind issues. This does identify air quality issues and actual health impacts given with each process. It's a free download and a worthwhile application guide for those looking to improve their operations in any field. There is also some LEED for neighbourhood stuff in the works as well which would be accessible through the US Green Building Council. The Canadian Green Building Council isn't quite there yet. I'm not as familiar with that document but I think there is one, so it may have some suggestions for air quality.
The other challenge with that is what and how you are burning. For example an outdoor wood boiler makes terrible smoke no matter what you put in it. On the other hand a masonry wood stove (tulikivi for the northern Europeans) is highly efficient burning appliance and puts out minimal emissions based on the complete combustion accomplished with the design. Wet wood smokes more than dry wood etc. It's an interesting parameter and I would be interested in seeing the final product when you are all finished.
Good luck.
Stephen
Stephen Collette
Your Healthy House
Indoor Environmental Inspections & Building Consulting
www.yourhealthyhouse.ca
[email protected]
705.652.5159